Suspect in Elmendorf killing will be released

Authorities say they lack evidence for grand jury.

Updated 1:14 am, Wednesday, December 21, 2011

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Stephen Bailey

Stephen Bailey

Suspect in Elmendorf killing will be released

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An Elmendorf man arrested three months ago in the slaying of a neighbor shot more than a dozen times inside an airport hangar is expected to be released from jail this week because prosecutors say they don't yet have enough evidence.

While Stephen Bailey remains the primary suspect, his case is not ready to present to a grand jury, said First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg He said authorities have no witnesses or fingerprints and are still waiting on the results of DNA and trace evidence analysis.

The case will be “rejected for further investigation,” meaning it could be presented to a grand jury at a later date if a DNA match is returned or new evidence surfaces, he said.

“By no means is the case gone,” Herberg said, adding that double jeopardy would make it risky to take it to a jury now. “We only get one chance at the defendant in court ... so we have to make sure our ducks are in a row first.”

But that does little to comfort the widow of Mark Ortega, 42, a local Tejano performer whose bullet-riddled body was found in a shower at a hangar next to their home. He and Bailey had a history of disagreements prior to the Sept. 18 shooting, authorities have said.

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Had Edna Ortega been home that day, she might be dead, too, she said Tuesday after prosecutors informed her of the decision.

“This guy lives 100 yards from my house,” she said, voicing anger that she might have to see him at Christmas instead of her husband. “I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't just pick up and leave. ... I'm going to have to be looking over my back.”

Among the evidence that authorities do have are bullet casings found at the scene. Matching casings have been found in a purse belonging to Bailey's girlfriend and on Bailey's property, Herberg said.

“We know they came from the same gun,” Herberg said.

The night before the shooting, Ortega told an officer that his neighbor had shot at him, authorities previously said.

For now, Bailey remains in the Bexar County Jail, unable to pay $100,000 bail. He's expected to be released by the end of the week, once paperwork to drop the case is completed, Herberg said.